


Rollercoaster of Love

by rhimes_or_shotts



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Marching Band, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Amusement Parks, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Minor Monty Green/Nathan Miller, Minor Octavia Blake/Lincoln, Minor Raven Reyes/Wells Jaha
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-09
Updated: 2015-10-09
Packaged: 2018-04-25 13:37:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4962646
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rhimes_or_shotts/pseuds/rhimes_or_shotts
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The marching band AU that someone on Tumblr requested of another writer but I decided to write. Clarke is the drum major, Bellamy is the head of the drumline. They argue over who is in charge of keeping the tempo. Then they become friends and have to fake a relationship while exploring Cedar Point, the world's best amusement park. Basically a short fic with a lot of tropes!</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rollercoaster of Love

**Author's Note:**

> Title is from Love Rollercoaster by the Ohio Players, which is especially appropriate since the story is set in Ohio!!!

Clarke Griffin cannot stand Bellamy Blake. She thinks that if anyone should be upset that she was named head drum major as a junior, it should be Wells since he’s a senior and it’s usually the senior drum major that’s named head. But she’s known Wells basically since she was born and he was just excited for her Mr. Kane made the announcement. She knew that it would be hard to gain everyone’s respect but she spent all summer rehearsing. She and Wells spent a week in July at the George Parks Drum Major Academy at Ohio Wesleyan and she started going to the drum line rehearsals as soon as they started a few weeks before band camp. She’s been working really hard and she thinks that everyone knows it and respects it. Everyone, that is, except Bellamy.

Bellamy is a senior, head snare, and drumline captain. Clarke is really good friends with his sister, Octavia, a sophomore in the guard, and she sometimes doesn’t know how she can like one sibling so much while she loathes the other. The only thing that Clarke thinks they share is their determination. It’s what makes Octavia one of the best in the guard, especially on saber, and it’s what makes Bellamy the best percussionist in school. Not that Clarke would ever tell him that she thinks he’s the best percussionist. The kid is already full enough of himself as it is.

She’s pretty sure that its his ego that has led them to where they are today, which is standing outside of the bandroom, after most of the other students have left, yelling at each other about who controls the tempo.

“Bellamy, I’m the one who sets the tempo. I’m the one everyone is watching. You have to look to me for the beat.”

“Princess, if you could keep a steady tempo, I would watch you. But you can’t and I’m not going to let us look bad out there. So if you aren’t going to keep a steady beat, I’ll do it for you.”

“That’s not how this works, Bellamy. If you don’t follow my lead for the tempo, then the band will just split and it will be even worse than not having a steady beat.”

“Ha! So you admit you aren’t keeping the tempo!”

Clarke rubs her hand across her face. She’s pretty sure that she is keeping an even pace but she also knows that when it comes down to performance time, she has to watch Bellamy and match his time because ultimately, she is the one in charge of making sure that the band stays together. In rehearsal though, he needs to be watching her. Which is good because she doesn’t think she can stand watching him march all over the field like a cocky shit with his tight white t-shirts and his stupid purple hat that says “Blake” on it. The entire line got personalized hats in the school colors over the summer and generally speaking, Clarke likes them. But there’s just something about the way Bellamy wears his that irks her. And his t-shirts…Clarke may not like the guy but she’s not blind. His arms are not the only part of him that she finds attractive. He’s got pretty nice face too, with freckles dusting across it. But his face so often has a sneer or a smirk on it that Clarke can forget about how attractive it is. His arms though, she has a hard time forgetting about his arms, especially when he’s drumming. So she’s perfectly content to not watch him for the tempo in rehearsal.

“Fuck off, Bellamy. That’s not what I meant and you know it. I just need you to watch me for the tempo. Seriously, it’s not a lot to ask. Do you think you can handle it?”

“Whatever you say, Princess.”

Clarke rolls her eyes and spins on her heel to walk back into the band room, leaving Bellamy alone in the hall.

* * *

It’s the first Friday in September, which means it’s the first football game and this year, it’s an away game. Everyone shows up on time, which is really to be expected given that each of the sections has dinner together at someone’s house before each game. Clarke’s not sure when or how the tradition started, but it’s been in existence the whole time she’s been in band. It’s a great way to build camaraderie within the sections and to ensure that everyone is on time to the games. It’s pretty unusual for someone to skip and even more unusual for someone to go to a sectional dinner of a section they aren’t a part of. The drum majors will sometimes go to different dinners, since they’re supposed to be in tune with the whole band. But, more often than not, they’ll go to their original sectional dinners. And since it is the first game of the season, Clarke had gone to the flute dinner. She loves being drum major but she misses hanging out with her friends from the section and she’s not going to be on the same bus as most of them so the sectional dinner is really her only time to hang out with them.

Their band isn’t huge, but with equipment and chaperones, they completely fill three school buses. In previous years, Clarke sat on Bus 1 with the rest of the flute section. She had been planning on sitting there again until her mother announced that she was going to chaperone all the games this year. On the one hand, Clarke appreciates that her mom is trying to make time for her. Her dad died unexpectedly a little over a year ago and at first, tensions were high between her and mom. She’d always been closer to her dad. Her mom was working all the time at the hospital and she didn’t really have a lot of motherly instincts. Clarke’s dad had done most of the child-rearing. And so, when he died, in addition to their grief, she and her mom had to figure out a new dynamic of parenting and being parented. Clarke appreciates that her mom has cut back on some of her hours to support her daughter. But being a chaperone for every game is not what Clarke had in mind, especially not when Abby Griffin is such a stickler for the rules.

Clarke is pretty sure she will die of embarrassment if she has to sit on the same bus as Abby. Not only will she have to witness her mom in chaperone mode but she’s 95% sure that her mom will try to sit with her. Clarke knows that the only sure fire way to avoid her mother is to sign up for Bus 3, otherwise known as the percussion bus. There’s an unspoken rule amongst the chaperones that only those who can stand the incessant drumming can be in charge of that bus. And Clarke is sure that her mom can’t. Nathan Miller’s dad can though and was in charge of that bus all last year. So Clarke is sure that signing up for Bus 3 gives her an escape from her mom, even if it is at the cost of listening to drum pads the whole way.

Clarke’s busy as everyone starts to load up the buses. She has to make sure that the podiums are loaded, that there are extra reeds and valve oil in the instrument care kit, and that no one has left anything in behind in the band room. She’s the last one on the bus and she doesn’t really think about it. She had just assumed that she could sit with Harper or Monroe, who are in the pit and thus, ride with the rest of the percussionists, or with Raven, one of her closest friends who plays top bass. When she gets on the bus though, she starts walking down the aisles and all of the seats are filled. Harper and Monroe are sitting together. Monty is sitting with Miller, which Clarke is surprised by because Monty always sits with Jasper. But Jasper is sitting across the way with a freshman clarinet player named Maya. She keeps walking back and sees Raven’s dark ponytail over the top of the seats but then she sees Wells sitting next to her. She can’t really be mad at him; he’s been trying to make that happen since last year.

Clarke’s starting to worry that there isn’t an open seat on the bus even though she knows there should be when she gets to the back and low and behold, there is an open seat, right next to Bellamy.

“Hey Princess. Need a seat?” he asks with a smirk, patting his own lap.

“Get over yourself, Blake, and scoot over.” Clarke says.

* * *

Seats on the band bus are sort of like seats in class. Even if they aren’t assigned, everyone generally sticks to the same seats they sit in the first time around. Which is how Clarke starts sitting with Bellamy for all their bus trips, to both away games and competitions. And somehow, she starts hating him less. They start working together instead of against each other and they both recognize that the band is the better for it.

It’s the first week of October and the band is getting ready for a competition. The competition is a couple of hours away and is being sponsored by Cedar Point, one the best amusement parks in the U.S. The bands will play all day Saturday at a local high school, stay at a hotel that night, and then get to spend Sunday at the park.

Clarke is nervous about the competition. But she’s more nervous about seeing Lexa. She met Lexa, a fellow drum major from a high school on the other side of town, at drum major camp over the summer and had felt an instant connection with the other girl. The last night of camp, Lexa had leaned in and kissed her and Clarke had kissed her back. She was really enjoying herself when Lexa pulled back and suggested that they talk for a bit. Which is when things had all gone to hell. Lexa started talking about the challenges of being out in high school. Clarke had never really had to deal with it since her only romantic experience was her freshman year when she made out with Finn, a saxophone player, in the back of the band bus. He’d asked her out and they went to a movie together but Clarke had decided she wasn’t really interested and that was the sum total of her romantic relationships to date. She’s never really had to talk about her sexuality before. She’d told a couple of her closest friends, like Wells, Raven, and Octavia, that she was bisexual, but it wasn’t a thing that she shared with a lot of people. She told Lexa as much and that’s when the conversation went south. Lexa got all defensive about Clarke having privilege of being able to pass as straight and then she’d said some other pretty disrespectful things about bisexuality. Clarke argued that she wasn’t hiding her sexuality, it just wasn’t anyone else’s business and then had stormed out.

She had thought that would be the end of it but then a few weeks back, she got a Facebook message from Lexa asking if she would be at this competition and asking if she might want to hang out. Clarke had kind of freaked out. She told Lexa that she would be at the competition, and would be willing to chat, but she was pretty sure that Lexa was trying to make something happen again and Clarke wasn’t interested. And instead of just saying that, she’d made the mistake of telling Lexa that she was involved with someone. Which is why she’s nervous, because it’s now time for the competition and she’s not dating anyone and she doesn’t know what she’s going to do when she runs into Lexa.

She’s finally decided to tell someone about her predicament. This is normally the sort of thing she’d talked to Wells or Raven about but he finally got up the courage to actually make a move so they’re dating now and Clarke doesn’t want to interrupt their new relationship euphoria with her stupid drama. She decides instead to talk to Octavia about it.

She and Octavia are hanging out outside the band room on a Tuesday afternoon. It’s the only day they don’t have band practice after school but the drumline still rehearses so Octavia waits around to get a ride home with Bellamy and Clarke usually sticks around to rehearse with them when necessary. They don’t need her today though so it gives the opportunity to fill Octavia in on the situation.

Once Octavia stops laughing at Clarke’s stupid situation, she asks “Can’t you just pretend that your partner isn’t in band? It is partner, right? You didn’t identify a gender when you told her you were with someone?”

“No, I didn’t identify a gender, so it could be a guy or a girl. And as for not in band, I guess I could play it that way but we talked a lot at camp. She knows that band is basically my life and that all my friends are in band. If she asks, I don’t think I can really sell a story about meeting someone through another avenue.”

“Yeah, you are a pretty huge band geek.” Octavia says before pausing with a contemplative look. “I could pretend to be your girlfriend.”

“I thought you were planning on spending the whole time flirting with the drum captain from Lexa’s school?”

“I was, but I’ve been Facebook flirting since we met at the winter percussion competition last season and he hasn’t made a move yet. So, I’m not sure it’s going to happen.”

“Pretty sure he’s interested, O. And I don’t want to ruin it for you. There must be other options, right?”

“You could pretend to be dating Wells or Raven.”

“Yeah, they can’t keep their hands off each other right now. There’s no way either could handle pretending to be with me for an entire weekend when they can actually be with each other.”

“Fair point. Hmmm…let me think. I’ll figure it out.” Octavia says, just as the door opens and Bellamy comes out of the door.

“Figure what out?” he asks, settling down between them.

“Long story short, we’re trying to figure out which of our friends we can pretend Clarke is in a relationship with this weekend.”

Bellamy’s pretty used to his sister’s weird schemes but this one seems particularly odd so he’s about to ask for more details when Octavia interrupts him: “What about Monty?”

“Unfortunately, Monty won’t work. I talked about him this summer so Lex knows that he’s gay and out.” Clarke says.

Clarke looks distraught so Bellamy decides he doesn’t need to know all the details right now, he just wants to help solve the problem.

“Have you never heard of bisexuality?” he asks, and both girls turn to look at him with twin looks of surprise. “What? I mean, even if you told him that Monty was gay, sexuality is often fluid. Monty could decide he was bi and wanted to date you. I know people can be assholes about bisexuality but it’s a valid thing.” Both of the girls are just gaping at him and he doesn’t know why so he adds “WHAT?!?”

Clarke and Octavia share a look and then Clarke gives a little nod and Octavia turns to look at him. “Yeah, we know bisexuality is valid. Actually, uh, Clarke is bisexual, and Lex is Lexa, the girl that Clarke kind of hooked up with at drum major camp but then who got all freaked out about Clarke being bi. She’s trying to get back with Clarke which is why we’re trying to figure out who can pretend to be dating her.”

Bellamy considers all of this information for a moment. “Okay. Generally this situation sounds like it sucks. But I don’t understand why you need to fake a relationship. Can’t you just tell her you’re not interested? I mean, I know she was a bitch about you being bisexual but it doesn’t necessarily mean she’ll be one of those people who refuses to take no for an answer unless there is someone else in the picture.”

“Yeah, I don’t think she probably is that kind of person. But for some reason I freaked out when she asked me if I was available to hang out this weekend and I told her I was dating someone. So now I think I’m pretty much stuck with that storyline.”

He doesn’t really have anything to say in response so he just looks down at his hands. Neither of the girls says anything for a minute and when he looks up, the girls are having another silent conversation that consists only of pointed looks, head jerks, and raised eyebrows. And then Octavia looks at him and beams. He looks over at Clarke and can see a blush starting to spread across her face.

“Ummmm…” is all he gets out before Octavia starts pestering him.

“Come on, Bell. It’s perfect. You guys hung out the whole time at the last competition and you were probably going to do the same this weekend. All you have to do is be a bit more affectionate and anyone would believe that the two of you are dating.”

Bellamy’s pretty sure that he’s blushing right alongside Clarke by now. If he’s being honest with himself, being a bit more affectionate with Clarke is something that he’s been thinking about for a few weeks now. He’s been trying to figure out if there’s a way he can make a move. He’s not sure that pretending to be her boyfriend is the best way to make said move, but it’s an opening and he’d be an idiot to turn it down.

“Yeah, okay. I’ll do it.” He says.

Clarke’s head snaps up and she’s looking at him with a look of utter surprise. “Really?” she asks.

“Really” he agrees. “But if we’re going to sell it, we’ll need to figure out our backstory. Need a ride home? We can figure out in the car.”

Clarke had been planning on getting a ride with Harper but she agrees, heading off in a bit of a daze to tell the other girl that she doesn’t need a ride before joining Octavia and Bellamy at his car.

* * *

The competition goes off without a hitch. The band receives a Superior, the highest rating they can get. Clarke doesn’t see Lexa throughout the whole performance period of the competition, though she isn’t really looking, being too distracted by Bellamy’s displays of casual affection that he had decided were a necessary part of his act as her fake boyfriend. It isn’t until they've gotten off the field and are celebrating their score, with Clarke jumping into Bellamy’s arms, that she sees the other girl. Lexa just gives her a look like she is aggressively showing no emotion. Clarke knows that Lexa thinking she is dating Bellamy probably does nothing to improve the other girl’s opinion on the so-called privilege of bisexuals, but really, that’s Lexa’s issue, not Clarke’s, and she’s distracted by Bellamy’s arms wrapped tight around her so she just nods at Lexa and then turns to press her face into Bellamy’s shoulder.

She thinks that maybe she’ll see more of Lexa at the amusement park the next day, especially since Octavia convinced Lincoln, the drum captain at Lexa’s school, to hang out with them. As it turns out though, Lincoln doesn’t really like Lexa and the park is pretty big. Clarke kind of thinks that maybe Lexa is trying to avoid her, but she really doesn’t put much thought into it. She’s much more concerned with trying to see if she can ride all 16 roller coasters in one day. She thinks it’s possible since the park is closed to the public today and the only people there are the students from the competition.

Luckily, Bellamy is also overly invested in her plan to ride all 16 coasters. None of their other friends care that much. Jasper didn’t even start the day with them, opting to hang out with Maya and some of her friends instead. Wells and Raven disappear early on in the day, probably to make out in some dark corner. Lincoln and Octavia only stick around for a bit longer but leave after Bellamy makes a few too many protective big brother type statements that start leading into challenges about which is a better drummer. Clarke doesn’t mind them leaving though because when Bellamy was in overprotective big brother mode, he sort of forgot about his casual displays of affection but as soon as Octavia and Lincoln leave, he’s back to wrapping his arm around her shoulder and nuzzling against her hair. It’s then just down to the two of them with Miller and Monty, who Clarke realizes are sort of ineptly flirting with each other. But she recognizes that she’s not really one to judge since she’s fake dating her crush. She’s not really sure of when Bellamy officially became her crush but she’s not questioning it, she’s just trying to figure out how she’s supposed to transition fake dating into real dating.

The four of them weave their way through the park, trying to get to all of them before they have to be back at the buses. They’ve just finished their 15th coaster, a beast called Rougarou that used to be called Mantis and is the tallest, fastest, and steepest stand-up roller coaster in the world, when they lose Monty and Miller. Monty claims to be feeling a bit “wobbly” after Rougarou and Clarke can admit that perhaps they should have saved that one for last. It throws you around a bit. She still tries to convince them to forge on. They only have one coaster left. But Monty declines and Miller volunteers to stay behind with Monty and tells Bellamy and Clarke to keep going. Clarke’s pretty sure that Miller is secretly grateful both to no longer have to be riding roller coasters, and also for some alone time with Monty. It’s when she’s turning around to leave that she’s pretty sure she sees Miller wink at Bellamy.

She tries not to think too much about it as she and Bellamy head to over to Millenium Force. When it opened, it was the tallest, fastest, and steepest roller coaster in the world. It isn’t anymore but it’s still a pretty awesome coaster and it was definitely her favorite when she was growing up. She had loved coming to the park with her dad. They both loved the coasters and she loved to hear her dad talk about the engineering of it all. She’s telling this all to Bellamy when he reaches over and grabs her hand. They’ve been being affectionate all day but this is the first time he’s held her hand and she can’t help but think that it means something.

She doesn’t have much time to process it though before they are at the front of the line. It seems like a lot of the other schools have already left the park and there is no wait. She and Bellamy are able to get the front seats and they’re still holding hands as the cars slowly chug up the giant climb. And then they are rushing back down to earth and are both screaming. Clarke’s ridden this coaster quite a few times so she knows where the cameras are and as they approach the last one, she leans over and kisses Bellamy on the cheek.

They’re both flushing when they get off the coaster and Clarke’s pretty sure that it’s not just from the excitement. Bellamy grabs her hand again and they head over to the photos. Their photo flashes on the screen and there she is with her lips pressed against Bellamy’s cheek and a look of pleasant surprise on his face. He drops her hand and Clarke is concerned that perhaps she shouldn’t have kissed him. But then he’s reaching for his wallet and ordering a copy of the photo and she feels a warmth spread from her center out through her limbs.

Once he has secured the photo, Bellamy takes her hand again and they start off at a brisk pace, trying to get back to the buses in time. Clarke starts to feel a nervous energy build the closer they get to the exit. There’s a two-hour ride home on the back of a dark bus and she’s pretty sure that she’s going to get to make out with Bellamy. He keeps looking over at her, flicking his gaze between her eyes and her lips and she thinks that he’s thinking the same thing.

They have to part when they get back to the buses because Clarke has to fulfill her drum major duties of making sure that everyone is back on the buses. Once it’s finally time to go, she rushes onto the bus and pushes her way to the back row. She’s expecting to find Bellamy waiting for her and he is, sort of. His head is wedged up into the corner between the seat and the window and he’s asleep. The bus lurches forward and she has to hold on for balance but it doesn’t wake Bellamy. She looks fondly down at him before sliding in next to him. She leans over and puts her head on his chest. He still doesn’t wake up, just makes a contented sigh and Clarke closes her eyes and soon falls asleep as well.

Neither of them wake up until Raven is shaking them in the parking lot of the high school. “Wake up lovebirds” she says and Clarke peels open her eyes open to discover that Bellamy has his arms wrapped around her and she’s snuggled tightly into his side. “Clarke, Wells needs you outside.” Raven adds and Clarke is forced to pull away from Bellamy’s clutches. She sends him a regretful look as she stands and heads out of the bus.

Almost a half hour later, they’ve got everything unloaded and packed back into the band room. Mr. Kane is trying to push everybody outside to where parents are waiting. Bellamy’s standing in the back corner of the room by himself, fiddling with one of the drums, though Clarke’s pretty sure he’s just trying to buy some time. She walks over to him and he stops fidgeting with the drum when he sees her approaching and starts rubbing the back of his neck with one hand instead. She’s trying to figure out what she wants to say when he starts talking.

“So, um, I know that the drum majors usually go to the sectional dinners of whatever section they used to be in. But sometimes they go to other dinners. And, um, I was wondering if maybe you wanted to come to the percussion dinner this week.”

Bellamy sort of mumbles the whole statement, not looking up at Clarke until the very end. When he does look at her, she’s beaming and she reaches forward to take his hand.

“Bellamy, if you want to go to dinner with me, there are better options than a sectional dinner.”

“Oh yeah, Princess?” he asks, smiling brightly back at her.

“Yeah. I mean, I’m definitely coming to the percussion dinner. But we could also get dinner on Saturday, if you’re free.”

“I’m definitely free” he says, tugging on her hand and pulling her in for a kiss.

“Break it up, you too.” Mr. Kane says with a tone of amusement as he walks back into the band room.

They regretfully pull apart. Both had been expecting a lot more kissing that day. Fortunately, there are plenty of more opportunities for kissing in their future.

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me on tumblr at ottersandotherstuff.


End file.
